1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an autonomous vehicle which autonomously moves to a destination, and also relates to a method of estimating self positions of an autonomous vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional autonomous vehicle includes an environmental information obtainment sensor and a control unit. The environmental information obtainment sensor obtains information on surrounding environment of the autonomous vehicle. The control unit controls a drive unit which allows the autonomous vehicle to travel. The control unit includes a self position estimation unit. The self position estimation unit calculates an error of an estimated self position and corrects the estimated self position by comparison of map information stored in a memory unit and environmental information obtained by the environmental information obtainment sensor. The conventional self position estimation unit expands a range of an estimable self position when the self conventional position estimation unit cannot obtain environmental information for use in correction of an error of an estimated self position. The error of an estimated self position is a discrepancy between an actual self position and an estimated self position (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-5593, for example).